Tennis Tour Tidbits

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 9th December 2013

Tennis Tour Tidbits

epa03743311 Britain's Andy Murray celebrates his win over Marinko Matosevic of Australia during a third round Aegon Championships tennis match at the Queen's Club in London, Britain, 13 June 2013. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

Rusedski Urges Murray To Set His Goal To Be Number One

Former British player and current television pundit Greg Rusedski has made big plans – in his own head – for compatriot Andy Murray, with the Canadian-born former US Open finalist suggesting that Murray make it his goal to take over the No. 1 ranking someday. That thought might have also entered Murray’s mind as the Scot recovers his fitness in Florida after September back surgery.

“I think Andy’s motivated to try and get ahead of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer and to get to No 1. That’s got to be his goal now. He’s been No 2, he’s won two majors. I think you have to refocus,” Rusedski told British media.

Rusedski said that Murray’s quarter-final loss in September as he defending his title at the US Open showed that he still has some work to do. Other commentators have noted that Murray’s form took a dip after he earned his historic Wimbledon title last summer, possibly due to his back issues.

“You could see at the US Open, when he lost to Stan Wawrinka, that he wasn’t able to generate enough power on the ball and his movement was affected,” said Rusedski. “But he’s such a good player that he could usually get away with it.”

If all goes according to plan, the fourth-ranked Murray will dip his toes back into the tennis waters in late December at the rich Abu Dhabi exhibition before returning to the ATP a week later in Doha, which he won in 2008-09.

ADDITIONAL NEWS

Samantha Stosur says that seeing Lleyton Hewitt beat her out for the John Newcombe medal for the Aussie Player of the Year has taken a little heat off of her. ”Yeah, probably. I guess in some ways there’s not really any pressure, but there’s always pressure because you want to play well and do your best here in your home country, at your home Grand Slam, and all that.” . . . Nick Kyrgios’s coach Simon Rea doesn’t believe that his 18-year-old’s elbow injury is a major issue. ”My understanding is Nick’s injury isn’t severe or career threatening, but it’s something that will have to be monitored. With the appropriate plan in place, we think he will overcome it. One way or the other, Nick will do really well.” . . . Jelena Dokic isn’t quite ready for prime time and doesn’t think she can win the Aussie Open wildcard playoff. She’ll face Jarmila Gajdosova in her first match. “Always when you’re competing, you give yourself a chance. But to be honest, I don’t give myself a chance this year. I’m just happy to play my first competitive match in almost two years. For me, that’s a win because I thought I would never play again. . . . ATP doubles players are pleased that there have been new job opportunities created through the new addition of doubles qualifying draws at 500 Series events in 2014. . . Recently retired British player Elena Baltacha married her coach, Nino Severino, over the weekend.

We Hear —

–That two former presidents of the Hong Kong Tennis Association, Philip Kwok Chi-kuen and Kenneth Tsui Kam-cheung, are upset with a plan to change the organization’s constitution to allow people with financial interests in the tennis business to join the council. .

Topics: 10sballs, Andy Murray, Atp, Greg Rusedski, Jelena Dokic, Lleyton Hewitt, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Samantha Stosur, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News, Wta